Good question, and you are right. Scratching or scraping them off with a knife, chain saw, or weedwacker would be on my list.....(I hate those things) but just barely above using a Propane torch.

The best way I have found (yes I did catch the part about feet and realize you were not wearing shoes and socks. Ticks climb but I will not address that issue here ), is to use tape. Just wrap it backwards onto your hands and use a rolling, patting motion to remove them. If you are a hairy beast like me, or just maybe value your skin for some reason, Scotch tape is better then masking tape. The oils in your skin (and grim if you are the "sandle-foot-hiker-dude" )will soon render it useless so keep lots of it on hand. I keep tape in my car or in my fanny pack most of the year.
Not to worry though, if alllll else hails, they will fall off eventually.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

be careful with perethin based products. too much will poison a pet. i almost killed my dog about 10 years ago with it. the vet said there wasn't anything he could do for her except give her a bath & wait. she was almost dead when i got her to the vet. the bath got the poison off & about 4 hours later he was able to give her stuff to save her.

NO YOU HAVE TICKS POX!!!!!!!
Well I do the same thing you did phantom I dug em off and it has happened to me several times.
Nothing happened(or) maybe that's whats wrong with me ticks pox
Anything you do make sure that you get the heads out even if you have to pop them like a zit,The head is what causes the diseses to incur(occur).
Keep antibiotic on them and wait about 2 weeks.

No matter how you go about it the tick is going to leave his stuff in ya,wether you pull them,put chemicals,like campho phenique(best) or any other thing you do.just keep the wounds clean untill they heal
Sorry for the little pests

[quote=Phantom_491][quote=Actually I was wearing sneakers and ankle socks. They were inside my socks. Now my feet look like I have the measles, or chicken pox.[/quote]
Phantom491
I was just kidding about you being the bare foot hiker dude but I was not
kidding about how to remove the seed ticks with tape. It is no joking matter. I did assume you were talking about before they had dug in (cemented) but I didnít really know how long it was between when you collected them and when you discovered their new hiding place.
Once they have dug in and cemented, putting something on them that might make them.... Well there is no reason for you to believe me about making them puke into your wound so here it is from someone else:The American Family Physician.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tick Removal
MATTHEW GAMMONS, M.D., and GOHAR SALAM, M.D., D.O.
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, Michigan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TABLE 1
Ineffective or Dangerous Methods of Removing Ticks: What Not to Do
Do not use sharp forceps.
Do not crush, puncture, or squeeze the tick's body. Do not apply substances such as petroleum jelly, gasoline, lidocaine (Xylocaine), etc.,to the tick.
Do not apply heat with a match or hot nail.
Do not use a twisting or jerking motion to remove the tick.
Do not handle the tick with bare hands.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Here is the URL so you can find out from the horses mouth, how it remove them.
I used to use a hot match stick but not anymore.www.aafp.org/afp/20020815/643.html

PS. I don't have any URLs for the tape trick except maybe the one for this thread. BACKPACKNJACK

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

Not to be a smart a** but all the pests were created after the Fall of Man from the grace's of GOD.

Fly's,sqitos,chiggers,ticks and all them other pesky no see um critters.
We all have done it or do it,leave home without the bug spray.
I always carry my deet with me,never know when you want to go out for a hike,just a short one,shouldn't get any bites,yea right.

I like the link backpackJ.
But them ity bity seed ticks are hard to grab with that tick extractor.
They look just like forceps to me.
I do not think they really are a specialty tool.
Walmart has them in the fishing section.

I like the link backpackJ.
But them ity bity seed ticks are hard to grab with that tick extractor.
They look just like forceps to me.
I do not think they really are a specialty tool.
Walmart has them in the fishing section.

Well GEO, here is another tick link (sense this is a tick & chigger thread) that you may not like as well because it shows how they attach/cement, plus some more tools.(check these out )http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~acarolog/tickgone.htm
If they have cemented, I don't try to pull them off with the tape trick but use some needle pointed tweezers I got from a DR. many years ago.
I placed these links so you may be assured I speak the truth. I was within 24hrs of loosing my 6'6" 450lb hunting buddy because of one little seed tick so I decided to learn what to look for and I hope these links (from the horses mouth will be useful to you guys.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.